Precious
by sidewinder
Summary: A "missing scene" from the Season 7 episode "Raw". In the aftermath of the courtroom shooting, Olivia makes a discovery about her coworkers' relationship...and has a revelation about her own situation with Elliot. (Fin/Munch slash, with a dose of O/E beneath the surface.)


_A/N: Characters property of NBC/Dick Wolf. This story was written purely for fun and not for profit._

 _Written because every Fin/Munch 'shipper of course has their take on the fig shake scene in "Raw". And while I'm not normally a big Elliot/Olivia shipper, for some reason the vibes were strong here to work into the story. Maybe I'll go with it some more in this series...?_

 _Also: while part of my "Spaces in Between" series, these stories can all be read as stand-alones. It's just a timeline for stories which fall within my same head-canon for the show._

* * *

"You'd think we'd have some news by now, wouldn't you? How many hours have we been here?"

"I'm sure we we'll hear something soon, 'Liv. You know how it is." Fin sat back down next to Olivia after refilling his styrofoam cup with more bitter, hours-old hospital coffee. He'd offered to replace her cup while he was heading over to the machine but she felt hyper enough, unable to remember how many refills she'd been through already. "It's all about triage in the ER, and from what we've heard Elliot and John weren't the worst injured at the scene. And who knows what else has come through here today."

"But they're cops. That should count for something. Including keeping us informed." She knew she wasn't functioning at her most rational, but it was hard when two of her best friends were hurt and she was helpless to do anything to help. "I hate this waiting."

"Who doesn't?"

The chaos in Judge Schuyler's courtroom earlier that afternoon had been quickly subdued, but the shoot-out had left several dead, including—the SVU detectives had learned in the past hour—the judge himself. Officers on the scene had determined how the guns had been smuggled into the court by a member of the white supremacist group at the center of the trial, but the how and the why were not so important right now to those awaiting news on the injured. Olivia and Fin had rushed over to Bellevue once they'd heard about the shooting only to be left cooling their heels in the ER waiting room, just wanting to know that the two people they both cared about deeply were going to be okay.

"Detectives Benson and Tutuola?"

"Right here." Fin was immediately on his feet and heading over to meet the nurse who'd called their names. Olivia followed right behind him.

"I know you've been eager for news on your partners. I've been informed they are both out of surgery and headed to recovery. They're doing fine."

"That's great." Olivia let out a relieved sigh.

"The doctors who treated them will be available soon to fill you in on the details, but I'm told both should be cleared for release tomorrow. You can visit them shortly, if you like, once they are through the first stage of recovery. I can get you their room numbers at that time."

"That would be appreciated," Fin said. "Is there any news yet on the court officer who was shot?"

"Nothing yet, I'm sorry. He's still in surgery, his injuries were much more severe, I'm afraid. In fact I need to update his family, so you'll excuse me...?"

"Of course." The nurse left them and Olivia gladly accepted the quick hug of reassurance Fin offered her.

"Told you they'd both be all right."

"I know, but it's been a rough day. My nerves are fried."

"Tell me about it. You hanging 'round to see Elliot?"

"Yeah. He'll want to hear the news about the others. I also need to track down Agent Lewis and give her an update on how they both made out. She'll be relieved, and I know she wanted to see John for herself if she could." FBI Agent Dana Lewis hadn't spared any of them from her vile insults while undercover in the racist group, but Munch and Fin had been the targets of some of the worst of them. Now that she had broken cover she wanted to apologize for the things she'd had to say while in character.

"Okay. I'll catch you back here in a while, I want to get something for John real quick. If traffic ain't a mess I should be back in thirty, forty minutes tops." At Olivia's questioning look, Fin smiled and explained, "You know hospital food sucks and I don't need to hear him bitching about it. Figure I'll bring him something I know he'll like."

"You're too sweet, Fin."

"Yeah well, don't tell no one." He winked and headed for the exit. Olivia pulled out her cell and dialed the number she'd be given by Lewis, wanting to tell her the good news.

* * *

About twenty minutes passed before Olivia got word she could check in on either patient, so she missed Fin's return as she headed straight to Elliot's room. She hated seeing the pain on his face that was, she soon discovered, not so much from the physical injury he'd suffered but thanks to his ongoing marital problems. She'd known things hadn't been good between Elliot and Kathy for some time, but to hear the words "divorce papers" come out of his mouth was still a shock. She didn't want to press the matter if it only made him more upset and he clearly didn't to want to talk about it, as much as she wished there was some way she could help him.

So she updated him on the aftermath from the courthouse, and her continued investigations into the schoolyard shooting which had lead them to RAW in the first place. Some things still weren't adding up entirely and with Redding now dead, she was frustrated they might never know the full story—and Ackerman might not see the full punishment under the law that he deserved.

"His son is dead, though, and that has to be more punishment than any court can impose," Elliot said.

"Not if you declare your son a martyr to the cause of racial purity." She shook her head at the insanity of it all. "Anyway, can I get you anything, Elliot? You're sure you don't want me to call anyone? Your kids...don't you think they should know, even if you don't want me to talk to Kathy directly?"

"No. I'm good. You talk to them and she'll hear it second-hand, which would be even worse." He took Olivia's hand with his good one and attempted a reassuring look that he couldn't quite pull off with any real conviction. "I'll be fine, and the kids will be better off not worrying about me right now. But thanks for staying here for me."

"Of course. Where else would I be?"

"I know." For a moment it looked as though he had more he wanted to say, but then, "Tell John I'm glad he's okay; the squad room wouldn't be the same without the Morning Munch Conspiracy Hour."

"I'm on my way to see him next." She wanted to lean down and offer him a kiss of reassurance...of maybe something more. But as usual, the barriers to acknowledging what was clearly there between them had been re-secured back in place. She left before that could hurt her even more than seeing Elliot suffering did.

John's room was further down the hallway of the recovery ward from Elliot's, right across from the nurses' station. The door was open and Olivia could see Fin in the chair at John's bedside, which was no surprise. What did surprise her, however, was the way Fin was holding his partner's hand in one of his own, the other placed protectively over that grasp. And even more surprising was the look on Fin's face before he glanced up and noticed Olivia standing in the doorway observing this scene.

It wasn't a look of simple friendship. She knew, after so many years of checking on victims in hospitals and seeing their concerned families, spouses or friends at their bedsides. His was the look of a concerned lover, and the fleeting embarrassment of discovery on Fin's face only confirmed it to her.

"Sorry." She immediately felt awkward about having stepped in on something private without intending to, something clearly intimate. Still reeling over the news of Elliot's impending divorce, she wasn't quite prepared for another shock about her coworkers and their intimate relationships.

Fin quickly recovered his own composure. "S'okay, he's asleep." He kept his voice low, indicating with a nod of the head for her to come in and join them.

"How's he doing?" she asked, speaking softly to match his tone.

"John's fine, got lucky. Not much worse than a flesh wound; doc says the bullet missed any major nerves or arteries. How about Elliot?"

"He's hurting but it could have been a lot worse. That arm is going to take a while to heal, though. He might be looking at physical therapy to regain full motion." Standing over the narrow hospital bed, Olivia couldn't help but notice how peaceful John looked, how unlike his usual self. She couldn't think of a time she'd ever seen him sleeping, not even catching a nap in the crib on a marathon night working a case. John was not a man who liked to show his vulnerabilities to the world, she knew, but unlike Elliot he didn't hide it behind a tough guy facade or bottle it up until it turned into misdirected rage...except perhaps at whichever government agency had last made the front page news.

"I'd offer you the chair but I can't escape this death grip without wakin' him up," Fin joked. "Seems he needs to sleep off the anesthesia a bit yet."

"I'm good, I won't stay long. Looks like he needs you here with him more than anything else."

Fin gave her a sheepish look. "Guess the secret's out, then?"

"But safe with me."

"It's not...I got no shame in it, understand. But we both knew it might cause issues in the unit that none of us need."

She nodded. "How long have you been..." she started to ask, just out of curiosity.

"Been a while now. Couple years, believe it or not."

"I'm impressed. Usually John can barely keep a partner for a few months before driving them crazy, let alone maintain a romantic relationship that long."

"Beats me how it's worked out like this, too. I get that it seems strange, me 'n Munch, right? But somehow, I don't know...You ever meet someone who just seems to know you better than you know yourself? Makes you feel like you got a reason to get up in the morning, even when the whole world is going to hell around you?"

 _Yeah, and he's in a hospital bed down the corridor right now, keeping me at arm's length as usual._ She bit back those words and instead answered, "I might know that feeling. And that it's pretty special when it comes along. Something that's worth holding on to."

"Ain't that the truth."

Olivia gave Fin a squeeze on the shoulder. "Tell John I'm glad he's going to be okay."

"I will. Thanks, 'Liv."

She took a cab home that night, too weary and her thoughts too preoccupied to deal with the subway or get her car out of the lot back at the precinct. John and Fin, they were perhaps the most unlikely couple she could imagine. And yet they could make it work...clearly they'd _been_ making it work despite the pressures of this job and the horrible things they had to witness on almost a daily basis.

So why _not_ her and Elliot?

Suddenly so many of the excuses she'd used to justify staying apart no longer made much sense. Maybe, when he was home and healing, when he was ready to accept that his marriage was over, it would be time for her to do something to find out the answer to that question.

* * *

Not long after Olivia left, one of the nurses came in to check on John and declared he was ready to be moved out of recovery and into a regular room for the night. Fin followed along, insisting on staying with his partner for a while longer, at least until John was settled in for as good a night's sleep as could be expected in the middle of a busy city hospital.

"Hand me the remote, will you?"

"Why, so you can watch the late night news and get all riled up about the world? You need to rest."

"Is that an order, Nurse Tutuola?"

"It will be soon if you don't quiet down. Want the rest of your shake? It's melted now, but still cold." John had only gotten down about half of it earlier, before drifting off to sleep.

"No thanks. As much as I love it—and love you for bringing it—dairy makes me gassy. And I don't savor the idea of having to pass wind right now."

"Thank you for that mental image and for sparing me from the real thing."

"Anytime. You should go get some sleep yourself."

"I'll be fine. I do need to head out at some point, bring you some clothes for discharge tomorrow."

"You're a champ. By the way, that was sweet, what you said to 'Liv."

"You were awake the whole time?"

"No. But long enough to hear the important parts."

"You better heal up quick, so I can kick your ass without feeling guilty about it."

John responded with a tight-lipped smirk that had absolutely no reason to be as endearing as it was. Fin shifted his chair closer to the bed so he could take John's hand again, bring it up to his lips for a kiss. Even the brief scare of losing him—when he'd first gotten the call about the courtroom shootout, before knowing that his partner's injury wasn't critical—had shaken him up. Now he needed the comfort of his nearness, the reassurance that he was still there, that he was all right, that what Fin had allowed himself to open up to between them hadn't suddenly been torn away.

John traced his fingers slowly over Fin's lips and then said, "Just consider us even. Almost."

"Even?" Fin repeated. He'd been distracted by John's touch and forgotten what they'd been talking about.

"Last year? When you got shot? Only with you it was a bit more serious than a stray bullet in the ass."

"I don't remember you bringing me a milkshake in the hospital."

"I had my own ways of helping to speed your recovery, as _I_ remember."

"Oh yeah. Those weren't so bad."

"Go home. Get some sleep, Fin."

"I'll leave when I'm ready." _And may that day never come,_ he added mentally, words he didn't need to speak because he could see the understanding and appreciation there in his partner's eyes.

 _Something that's worth holding on to,_ like Olivia had said. It really was precious when you found it.


End file.
